Epson AR glasses aim at industry

PORTLAND, Ore. -- When Epson first announced its augmented reality (AR) head-mounted display (HMD) called Moverio last year, it was aimed at the same consumer applications as the Google Glass research project, only Epson's solution was here today. However, if Epson's experience is any indicator, Google Glass will be a failure. Now Epson is one generation ahead of Google Glass, since it is readying a second-generation Moverio, but this time their aim is the industrial market, for which they already have succeeded by signing up professional customers such as Scope Technologies (Edmonton, Alberta).

"We immediately saw the potential for Epson's Moverio for industrial applications, such as eliminating the need for service manuals by showing technicians exactly how to perform maintenance tasks with heads up information displayed right on the device being repaired," said founder of Scope Technologies founder, Scott Montgomerie.

Scope Technologies uses Moverio to project tactical information -- such as showing virtual tools performing the necessary task right on the equipment to be repaired. Thus instead of consulting a service manual, the technician merely dons the Moverio glasses and looks at the device to be repaired, with the location of the faults and the steps to repair them appearing to be projected right onto the parts.

Epson's Moverio augmented reality (AR) glasses obsolete the service manual by directing personnel in how-to with arrows and text added right on top of the device being serviced. SOURCE: Epson
Click on image to enlarge.

"We are currently working with our industrial partners like Scope Technologies, to bring this wearable see-through technology to the professional market," said Eric Mizufuka, new markets product manager at Epson.

The user interface in this application will be critical. If an intuitive interface is developed that allows the instructions to be scaled, overlaid on the task, and easily controlled by a working individual, this could become the next killer app for repair technicians and training users.

The capability and application of wearable electronics are still unknown. Google's youtube videos have a couple interesting show cases. Whether they will become a popular apps is still to be seen. Yet, the application area as suggested by the article are very interesting and most like be applicable to a lot of areas.